


love is just a chemical. we give it meaning by choice.

by mnths



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Developing Relationship, Dialogue Heavy, Friends to Lovers, Gaming, M/M, Mario Kart References, Overwatch - Freeform, Swearing, UNO, Until Dawn - Freeform, YouTube, s8 didn't happen, you don't really need to know anything about these games to read this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-19 13:39:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17002692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mnths/pseuds/mnths
Summary: Five times Keith and Lance got closer through video games, and one time they did in real life.





	love is just a chemical. we give it meaning by choice.

**Author's Note:**

> klance still means so much to me  
> this is shorter than i wanted it to be, but i still have to practice writing longer works  
> title from eleanor lamb's quote in bioshock 2

**one: mario kart**

“What’s up, fuckers?”

Shiro sighs through his headset. “Pidge, no.”

“Let me live, Shiro,” Pidge said. “This is a PG-13 channel. Anyway, today we’re playing Mario Kart, which Keith has somehow never played!”

“I don’t appreciate this attack on my character,” Keith replied. 

“Well, I’d be honored to absolutely destroy Keith in his very first round of Mario Kart,” Lance said. “I am a Mario Kart god.”

Hunk laughed. “Lance, the last time we played this, you drove off the track half the time! You have zero control of the car.”

“That’s irrelevant.”

Shiro, forever the responsible adult of Voltron, their group gaming channel, continued the intro. “Today, Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, and I are playing Mario Kart! A second game has been heavily requested, likely because you guys would like to see us strangle each other, but the joke is on you. You can’t murder through Discord.”

“I can try,” Allura said.

“Princess, don’t try to be edgy. It’s a better look on Keith,” said Lance. 

Keith huffed.

“Alright, team,” Hunk started, “Let’s begin before we start a fight!”

There was a heated debate around the map to be played. Lance was a strong advocate for Rainbow Road for some odd reason, considering that he constantly drove off the edge of maps, even those with several walls. Keith then took forever to select his character and vehicle, ultimately settling on Toad “because he’s adorable.”

Shiro started off slow and continued slow. Lance had said that Mario Kart is the only game that can really piss him off, and it showed. He spoke less and less as the round continued, but Keith could hear him fuming. Pidge would later elect to put his red and angry face in the thumbnail. 

Hunk was surprisingly aggressive despite his mellow demeanor. His abuse of spiny shells was a testament to this. Unfortunately, it was not enough to carry him out of fifth place. Keith felt kind of bad for him.

Allura was in fourth, and Keith was surprised to find that she was not too upset about it. She normally hated losing, but Lance had kindly informed him that she had given up on winning Mario Kart specifically long ago.

Pidge was exceedingly fired up, especially for someone in stuck in third. Keith supposed she may think she’d be able to catch up, but, personally, he thought it unlikely. He and Lance were just too far ahead.

Speaking of he and Lance, they were first and second, respectively. They were nearly a full lap ahead of Pidge in third. Keith had no idea how Lance was so close behind him, as he was basically unable to drive. To make up for that deficiency, Lance was excellent at using items. Keith had never played Mario Kart before, but Lance sure as hell knew how to use a blooper. 

“You scared, Keith?” Lance taunted. “I’m right behind you,” he said, his voice in a singsong. 

“Not even a little,” Keith replied.

Lance laughed over Shiro swearing under his breath in the Discord server. “I would be if I were you.” With that, he sent a banana flying forward.

Keith hit it and skidded. “Shit.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Conveniently for him and anything but so for Lance, Keith was an amazing driver, despite this being his first game of Mario Kart. He possessed excellent control of his car and took corners extraordinarily well. He recovered quickly, much to Lance’s dismay, and crossed the finish line soon thereafter.

“Fuck you, Kogane,” Lance complained, crossing the finish line just seconds after Keith had. 

“How does it feel to lose, McClain? Hmmm?” Keith was admittedly a bit of a sore winner. "Who's scared now?"

“Come on, man!" Lance whined. "It was Lance and Keith, neck and neck, the whole time! Don’t act like it was a runaway!”

“You all are the worst,” Pidge said. “My lifespan is being shortened by the minute.”

Hunk sighed. “Mario Kart will do that to you.”

\----------

**two: call of duty**

Lance’s enthusiastic, ever-excited voice filled Keith’s headset. Keith had never met anyone more zealous about life. It was inspiring.

“Hello, everyone! Today we’re going to be playing one of my absolute favorite games of all time, ever, Call of Duty: Black Ops! More, specifically, by my request, of course, Gun Game!”

Pidge’s reply crackled through Keith's headset. “He bothered us for days on end about it. We eventually gave in.”

“Hey! Allura likes Gun Game, too!”

“It’s true.” Keith could almost hear her shrug over through the Discord server. 

Keith was not a big fan of Gun Game. Or any Call of Duty game mode. It wasn’t because they were bad games, but rather because he sucked ass at them. He couldn’t shoot to save his life. He was consistently last, and Lance was always number one. Keith suffered every time they played it.

“Also, surprise time!” Pidge shouted. “We’re doing wagers!”

This news was particularly well-received by Lance. “Fuck yeah we are!”

“Fuck you guys, and fuck this game,” Keith said. He didn’t have many COD points to wager in the first place, and he wasn’t eager to lose more today. He participated nonetheless.

Hunk decided that they’d play three games, a) because three games was a perfect video length, and b) because, should Lance somehow not win one of the first two (it was guaranteed he’d win at least one), there could be a tiebreaker, if necessary. 

Within the first minute of the round, Lance was in the lead by a wide margin. Keith was dead-last, and currently getting rushed at by Pidge, which was terrifying. He was dead in half a second.

“Spraying and praying isn’t a real strategy, Keith,” Pidge laughed.

“When you figure out another strategy that works for someone who can’t aim for shit, let me know,” Keith replied.

Allura had been killed by Lance six times this round thus far, and Keith could sense her getting more and more pissed off. 

“What the fuck did I ever do to you?” she whined upon getting hit with his crossbow.

“It’s kill or be killed in this game, sweetie. Move on,” Lance replied. Allura just swore again and shot Hunk through the head. She seemed to get better the angrier she was, a power that Keith was envious of.

Lance won the first round by a landslide, even trickshotting in the final killcam, earning him extra respect from the group. Keith lost, completely and utterly. Shiro and Hunk came second and third, respectively, allowing them to at least get something out of their earlier wagers. It’s not like Keith needed COD points anyway.

Lance, unlike Keith, was a kind winner. He complimented everyone’s playstyles, even Keith’s, though he did so with an element of sass, as expected of Lance. Keith was last, after the others had saved their footage and signed off for the night.

“Hey, Keithy boy, that wasn’t bad,” he said as they reached the menu screen. 

Keith replied, “Don’t make fun of me.” 

“I would never!”

“Just last week you said that a - and I quote - ‘bronze Mercy one-trick could play a better Genji than me.’”

“That was all in jest! You’re grandmaster, dude. You’re like, an amazing DPS. Besides, your strategy this game, as stupid as it may be, was a smart choice. You know you have trouble with COD, so you picked something that worked for you.”

Keith smiled at his computer monitor. “Thanks, Lance.”

“No problem, mullet. Well, now I’m fired up. You down for another game?” Lance asked. “One we can play with two people… Uno online?”

Keith glanced at his clock. It was a just bit past midnight. “I’m down.”

“Sick,” Lance's voice crackled a bit as the Discord server lagged slightly. “Do you wanna record? Coran would kill us if we didn’t.” Coran was their channel manager. In his eyes, the more they recorded, the more content they could sort through, and the more quality videos they could make. 

“Sure.”

\----------

**three: uno**

“Hey guys, we’re doing something a bit different today,” Lance introduced. “Me and my BFF Keithy here are going to be playing one-on-one Uno against each other! Are you excited?”

“Not at all,” Keith deadpanned. 

“Well,” Lance began, “You did agree to this. You’re in it now!”

Keith sighed through a smile. “Okay.”

Lance started up their Uno game, and right off the bat, Keith knew he had a decent hand. He also knew the perfect way to use it against Lance.

“Another draw two? Keith, I am like two seconds away from quitting.”

“This was your idea.”

“Right, but that was before I knew you cheated to get good hands!”

“How the fuck would I cheat? This is online Uno. I can’t hide my own cards.”

“Then you’re hacking.”

“I am most definitely not. I have integrity, unlike some.”

“You did not mention any names, but somehow I know you were insulting me.”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

They cracked up. It was nearly two in the morning, both Keith and Lance had class the next day, yet they kept playing. When Lance was ready to kill Keith after he played another draw four, they moved to Rabbit to watch movies together and selected _F the Prom_ (Lance’s choice), which Keith could safely say is the single worst movie he’s ever had the misfortune of seeing. Lance talked through the entire thing, which would normally irritate Keith, but everything he said was either extraordinarily funny or actually added something to the experience, so he was happy to listen.

“Okay, why the fuck are they actually dressed as the Breakfast Club. In a modern-day high school. Over the span of multiple days. What the fuck,” Lance said.

At this, Keith giggled. “I have no idea, man. Fuck.” He laughed again, exhausted.

“You have a great laugh,” Lance said.

Keith blushed, satisfied knowing that Lance couldn’t see him. “Thanks, Lance.”

“Do you have Instagram?”

“Yeah.”

“What is it?”

“Why?”

“We’ve never seen each other before.”

“Fine, Keith said. He was curious about what Lance looked like. He’d never seen him, seeing as Pidge had introduced them over the internet. “It’s ‘kkogane.’” Seconds later, his phone lit up with the notification reading that ‘lanceylance’ had requested to follow him. He accepted and followed Lance back.

His first impression of Lance? He fit his voice very well. Second? He was gorgeous.

Keith was about to say something quite embarrassing when he elected to instead ask, “Do you have a skincare routine?” which was equally if not more embarrassing than "Fuck, you're hot," which he thankfully did not say.

Lance laughed. “Yeah. I’m glad it shows.” He coughed. “Do, uh, do you?”

“I wish,” Keith replied. “No, I don’t.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“It looks like you do.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah," Lance paused. "Wait."

“What?”

“Do you have a fucking mullet?”

“No, I don’t, asshole.”

“You totally do. Shut up. You totally do.”

“Fuck off.”

“Hey, it looks good. Don’t sweat it.”

Now it was Keith’s turn to cough. The short silence was heavy and a tad awkward, so he suggested they watch another movie, this time, his choice: _The Shining_. Apparently, Lance had never seen it.

By Lance’s own account, he “nearly pissed himself seven times.” Keith was pleased with his choice, validated by Lance’s fear. Not in a creepy way, but rather, the movie was good and accomplished what it was supposed to. 

Once the credits closed (Lance had talked through them), Keith looked up and found that it was nearly 4 am. “Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Lance asked. 

“Check the time, Lance.”

“Shit.”

“Goodnight, Lance.”

“‘Night, Keithy.”

\----------

**four: until dawn**

The second Keith sat down and pulled on his headset, he was flooded with his friends’ voices. He leaves for one minute to grab a Dr. Pepper, and suddenly they’ve started the video without him.

“This is a bit different compared to our usual content. I’m going to be controlling the game, and these dickheads are going to watch me do so,” Pidge said. 

“You can’t see it, but I’m nodding right now,” Hunk added.

“We’re using some sort of screen-sharing program. I kind of feel like I jailbroke my computer using it,” Lance said.

Keith said, “That’s such a 2012 thing for you to say.”

“Fuck you. 2012 was a great year for me.”

“Anyway,” Shiro began. “We’re all going to be voting on what choices we make! Keith will not have as much influence because he has played this before and knows how the different storylines play out. Also, he has just informed us that some choices need to be made very quickly, so expect some degree of yelling.”

Allura added, “Also, this is going to be a ten episode series, one for each chapter of the game.”

“And with that,” Lance said, “Let’s get into it!”

Keith had started this video with the secret plan to fool his friends into killing off their favorite characters, which Shiro had swiftly debunked in the intro. However, this didn’t mean that he couldn’t mess with everyone despite his decreased influence. 

At every given opportunity, Keith directed them into a jump scare. Despite this being his own doing, he still managed to get scared. Unfortunately, Allura had an ear-piercing shriek, and not to his surprise, so did Lance. The remainder of the group did not appreciate this, but Keith was having a good laugh.

It was an hour in, and the group was watching Mike and Jess making out on a couch. “This game is for the straights," Pidge muttered under her breath, sending everyone into a fit of laughter. This was abruptly ended when a window shattered and scared the shit out of everyone in the call. Later, when Ashley and Chris were exploring the basement, Keith was overwhelmed by all the yelling of “Grab the scissors! Grab the goddamn scissors, Pidge!” and the “I’m trying, shut the fuck up, I’m trying!”

After yet another jumpscare, Lance elected to pester Keith, who had just let out quite an undignifying screech.

“Hey, Keith,” he said.

“Yes, Lance?” Keith replied.

“You’re such a pussy.”

“Shut the fuck up! It’s designed to be scary!”

“Yeah, but you’ve played it like seven times. I cannot, in good conscience, validate that level of fear.”

“Alright, boys, stop your flirting,” Allura interjected. “The flamethrower guy is here, and we need to decide whether or not to trust him.”

Lance replied, “Absolutely not. He gives off real ‘I kill dumb teenagers in the woods’ vibes to me.”

“I’m with Lance on this one,” Hunk said.

Keith sighed. “Guys, he’s just designed to look scary. It’s meant to fool us.”

“Do you really think this is a bait-and-switch?” Lance asked.

That didn't sound exactly right to Keith, but he didn't know the phrase quite well enough to call him out. "Don’t you think you should trust me? I know this game like the back of my hand.”

“I suppose,” Lance conceded. They elected to trust the flamethrower guy, though it didn’t matter much in the end.

After nearly nine hours of gameplay, Jess, Lance’s favorite character was dead, Hunk was a diehard Chrashley shipper, and Allura was convinced that the Wendigo were real. Keith was fascinated by the others’ first reactions to the game, especially considering that he couldn’t remember his own.

“Okay, Keith, I can see why you like this game so much,” Lance said. “It's not half bad.”

At this, Keith lit up. “I know,” Keith replied. “Did you know that they made most of it with motion capture suits? And I love their statements in the credits, which change depending on who lives, who dies, and their relationships with each other. And, like, it's filled with cliches, but it's meant to be. The cliches are handled well, they writing's pretty good, and it does have some layering to it.”

“You’re cute,” Lance said. “You should talk about shit you care about more often." After saying their goodnights, the group logged off for the night. It took Keith longer than usual to fall asleep.

\----------

**five: overwatch**

“Hey everyone,” Lance began. “Today, Keith and I are going to continue our amazing little duo series. We'll have to name it eventually. What are we going to be playing today, mullet?”

Lance had adopted the nickname “mullet” for him after their exchanging of Instagram accounts. It was not the worst nickname Keith's ever had.

Speaking of Lance, Keith had recently come to the realization that he had a slight crush on him.

“Keith?”

“Oh, shit. Hi, yes, today, we’re playing Overwatch,” Keith said.

“Yes! We are playing quickplay, because there is too much of an SR difference between us, so we can’t play competitive. Keith is just too good at the game.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem, buddy. So we will both be playing DPS today, and whoever gets the most kills gets to pick the movie we watch tonight!”

“That does not relate at all to our audience.”

“They need to know the stakes, Keithy.”

“Alright. I call Genji though.”

“Whatever. You already know I’m going to pick Widow. The Sharpshooter has to stay on brand.”

Keith smirked. “Sure. Or, you could just admit that you’re a one-trick.”

Lance gasped, pretending to be affronted. Keith could tell over the comms. “I see mullet here is staying on brand too and being an _ass_.”

“The group needed at least one edgy member. It’s good marketing," Keith replied. Coran had told them so.

Lance laughed and then spoke, this time regarding the match. “Their main tank is down. They’re weak.”

Keith killed the enemy healers and called it out. “I think we should push in now,” he said.

“You got it, team leader.”

Keith and Lance made an astounding duo if Keith did say so himself. Keith was the shot caller, but he couldn’t do half the shit he did without Lance’s support. They had a strong system, one that they used even in the group’s six-stack.

Their first game ended quickly after these callouts. The enemy team’s defense crumbled in the face of Keith and Lance and their team of other randoms. 

Lance whooped as the screen displayed _sirlancelot_ ’s play of the game. 

Keith laughed. “Not so fast, Lance. I have gold eliminations. I’m picking the movie.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

Lance paused. “Fuck. I can’t watch another goddamn horror movie.”

Keith hummed. “We’ll compromise then. _Deadpool_?”

Keith could almost hear Lance’s grin over the line. “ _Deadpool_.”

\----------

**plus one: irl**

Keith’s phone lit up, vibrating face-down on his nightstand as he attempted to fall asleep. He groaned and rolled over, unhappy to be disturbed, as much of the population would be. Sitting up marginally and reading the notification, his theory was confirmed: Discord. To his surprise, however, it was not their group chat “the funky fresh gaymers” (lovingly dubbed so by the combined efforts of Lance and Pidge), but rather, a direct message from Lance alone. 

**lanceylance** : hey keithy  
**lanceylance** : are you busy next friday?

At this, Keith was forced to think, not for the first time. A, what day was it? When is next Friday? Was he doing anything? And b, why was Lance asking if he was busy? Was he scheduling a movie night in advance? Were they set to record that day? Keith groaned again and glanced at the digital clock on his nightstand. Two in the morning was far too late for this, especially considering that they hadn’t even recorded that night. Keith, and Lance, for that matter, had no business being awake.

 **kkogane** : i dont think so  
**kkogane** : why?

 **lanceylance** : i was wondering if you wanted to hang out  
**lanceylance** : like irl

Keith paused upon reading this. Meeting Lance in real life. For years he’d talked to Lance over video games and the internet, and of course, he’d considered meeting him, but he’d never thought that it would happen. Not this soon, at least.

 **lanceylance** : we can try to meet halfway or smth  
**lanceylance** : this is weird isn’t it? you don’t have to answer. in fact, it’s probably better if you didn’t

Keith laughed to himself. Leave it to Lance to be this goddamn dorky.

 **kkogane** : im down  
**kkogane** : im in washington and ik youre in california, so do you wanna meet somewhere in northern california? 

**lanceylance** : yeah definitely  
**lanceylance** : my aunt owns a diner up there, does that work?

That sounded amazing, but Keith did not know if he should say that. 

**kkogane** : sounds great  
**kkogane** : i will see you /irl/ on friday

 **lanceylance** : hell yeah you will :P

What a fucking dork.

\----------

It’s been a week and a half since Lance messaged him that night. Many a video had been recorded and edited, time had passed, and it was now Friday. That fateful Friday, in fact. Keith did not think this could be considered a date. He was pretty sure that Lance just wanted to hang out, as over the past couple months he and Lance had gotten pretty close. It was only natural to want to meet your friends for dinner, but Keith could dream.

Despite not believing that this meeting was meant as a date, Keith wanted to look half-decent at the very least. He called Shiro, more than a little frantic, and settled on a, according to Shiro, “basic, yet classy” look: black jeans, red hoodie, leather jacket, and fingerless gloves. Keith was happy with it and hoped it would impress Lance as well, especially considering that he had never seen Keith in person before.

After one hour on his motorcycle, Keith reached the address of the diner, which Lance had texted him earlier that day. The ride was windy and a bit cool, which helped calm his nerves significantly. Something about cold air hitting him as he drove slightly above the speed limit was electrifying. It forced him to tap into his adrenaline bank.

He parked his bike and walked inside. It was quite crowded, as it seemed to be quite a successful restaurant and it was a Friday night. Upon walking in, Keith scanned the nearby booths for Lance and spotted him a moment later. Lance found him nearly as fast, and his face lit up. Keith blushed as he walked toward him, smiling in return.

“Hey, man,” Lance greeted.

“Hi, Lance.”

Lance cleared his throat slightly. “I’m glad you could make it. I- uh, it means a lot.”

“Of course,” Keith smiled, “I’m happy to see you.”

Lance smirked. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I do tend to have that effect on people.”

“Whatever, okay,” Keith laughed. “On who else?”

“You jealous?”

“Fuck no.”

A brown-haired, green-eyed waitress took their drink orders: Lance’s, a Pepsi, Keith’s, a Shirley Temple. Lance hummed at this.

Keith’s eyes narrowed as he took his drink and thanked their waitress, watching as Lance did the same. “What?”

“I didn’t think you were the type to have a sweet tooth.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, McClain.”

Lance laughed. “I know, Kogane. Mark my words, though, I will learn it all.” 

Keith was realizing, not for the first time, just how easy it was to make him blush, and Lance was doing a hell of a job of it, probably without even trying.

(He was trying, but Keith didn’t know that.)

Their dinner orders were taken, and conversation flowed. Keith was pleased to find that, despite this being their first meeting in person, conversation with Lance was as relaxed as ever. He seemed to be born with the ability to put those around him at ease and draw them into effortless conversation. It was yet another one of Lance’s traits that, along with his sense of humor and caring aura, made Keith’s heart do little flips in his chest.

“There’s no way that you haven’t played Minecraft.”

Keith smiled. “Nope, never.”

“Why? Mullet, it’s so much fun. _So_ much fun. Hunk, Pidge, and I had a server that we played on for - holy shit - _years_.”

“I don’t know. I just never got around to it. I played Terraria, though.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t played it,” Lance huffed playfully. “We have to play it. We _have_ to.”

“I’m down.”

“God, I can’t wait to take your Minecraft virginity,” Lance said.

Keith sighed. “I hate you.”

“Now, now, Keithy, if you really hated me, you would not have agreed to this date.”

Both Keith and Lance froze, Keith because _holy shit this_ is _a date_ and Lance because _holy shit I did_ not _mean to say that out loud_.

“Wait, so,” Keith coughed. “This _is_ a date?”

Lance, having buried his face in his arms, looked up across the table and weakly smiled at Keith. “Yes?”

Keith, sensing Lance’s discomfort, was on a mission to revert it. “Thank fuck.”

Lance’s head shot up, his eyes confused. “You want to be on a date with me?”

Keith grinned. “Hell yeah I do.”

Lance’s smile was blinding, and Keith figured he had done something right. “Shit man, I’m so fucking glad to hear that. I was originally going to 'ask you out' ask you out, but I’m a coward, I guess. But we’re on a date now, so I guess that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah. It is,” Keith smiled softly. 

“Ew. Stop being so mushy, mullet. You had a bad boy vibe going on, and now you’re kind of ruining it.”

“Fuck you.”

“I like you too, mullet. Now hold my hands across the table.”

“Okay.”

\----------

Leaving the diner that night granted Keith a number of things.

First, a boyfriend. Though Lance pussied out at first, they ended up on a date that night. Keith considered it the best date he’d ever been on. He and Lance had built a relationship playing video games and making stupid videos with their friends, and they had chemistry. Their relationship blossomed because they had put in the effort: they talked, they held movie nights, they flirted (only a little bit). And all of it led up to this night, as they stood outside of a diner in the remote parts of northern California.

Second, another date with Lance, this time at Lance’s apartment in Redding. Keith didn’t mind the drive in the slightest, especially if it meant that they had to message their friends and say that they were not available to record next weekend. 

Third, his first kiss. Keith put his jacket on and straddled his bike, all while Lance stood next to him until he had to go. After adjusting the last strap on his gloves and looking up to say goodbye, he was met with Lance’s face hovering close to his and the mumbled “Can I?” and Keith nodded furiously and their lips met and it was more than Keith could ever have imagined. Lance tasted like Pepsi and smelled like cinnamon and Keith could not get enough of him. But Lance pulled away and smiled. He backed away from his bike so Keith could drive away, and, still stunned, Keith did so. Lance waved, so Keith waved back.

Keith had never been so excited for the weekend to come.

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know if you can tell, but i, like keith, have never played mario kart. also, until dawn might seem like kind of a strange choice, but i love that game. s8 was too much for me and i'm honestly really disappointed, but at least we can continue to create our own content


End file.
